1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for conducting a transaction and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for conducting a first transaction during which a customer or other user purchases a benefit that may be applied at or during a later second transaction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A retailer often encourages customers to shop at the retailer by assuring the customers that they are getting competitive prices for the products and services the customers are purchasing at the retailer. Customers often care about prices they are paying for products and services, and the customers may be discouraged from shopping at the retailer if prices for products or services sold at or by the retailer are volatile (i.e., the prices change frequently and/or significantly), if the customers feel that they are not getting a competitive price at the retailer for products or services, or the customers cannot be guaranteed that they will receive or obtain a competitive price for a product or service. In addition, in many cases the retailer also would like to have an effective way to encourage its customers to return to the retailer to conduct future transactions or to make future purchases.
There are several methods that retailers use to try to alleviate customers' concerns about price changes. For example, a retailer may provide a price guarantee to a customer where the retailer guarantees to the customer that the retailer will refund the difference between the price the customer paid the retailer for a product or service and an advertised price for the product or service if the customer finds a lower advertised price for the same product or service. A retailer may also agree to refund to a customer an amount of a decrease in price for a product or service if the product or service decreases in price during a given time period (e.g., thirty days) after the customer purchases the product or service. As another example, if a retailer is out of stock of a product that is on-sale, the retailer may provide a “rain check” to the customer for the product. The rain check may comprise an agreement or promise by the retailer that the customer will still be able to purchase the product at a future time at the price that is being offered when the retailer issues the rain check, even if the price of the product changes (e.g., increases) between the time the customer obtains the rain check and the time the customer purchases the product.
When possible, retailers also encourage customers to visit their store at later days or times to conduct additional transactions to make additional purchases. A technique currently used in the grocery or food product industry to encourage repeat visits by a customer comprises providing a checkout coupon to the customer. For example, a grocery store may give the customer a coupon at the time of the customer's checkout that would provide a discount to the customer on a price for a product purchased by the customer during a fixture transaction. However, in most cases such a checkout coupon does not provide a guarantee to the customer that the customer will receive a specific price for the product during the future transaction.
Despite the state of the art in transaction systems, there exists a need for an apparatus and method that encourages a customer to return to a retailer and/or to conduct a future transaction with or at the retailer while providing some assurance to the customer that the customer will not be subjected to price increases for one or more specific products or services.